


The More You Know

by Jlocked, The_Lady_of_Purpletown



Series: Knowing [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Established Relationship, Fluff, Harry Potter Next Generation, Hogwarts Sixth Year, M/M, Post-Canon, Scorbus, Snow, White Christmas, sweets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-10 08:05:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17422070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jlocked/pseuds/Jlocked, https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lady_of_Purpletown/pseuds/The_Lady_of_Purpletown
Summary: Though both families would love to have them for Christmas, Scorpius and Albus are spending this holiday at Hogwarts. When the school is left with very little adult supervision on Christmas Eve, things are bound to get interesting.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Once again we’re a little late for Christmas, but we blame the boys’ peculiar relationship with time. Enjoy!

Walking down the path to Hogsmeade through light snowfall, hand in hand with his boyfriend of almost two years, was so perfect that Scorpius just had to laugh. It was either that or burst into tears.

“I still say it’s magic.” He glanced at Albus.

"The snow? It wasn't me this time!" Albus said.

Scorpius giggled. “And here I thought that you’d found a way to multiply the power of your spells by... infinity...”

"I'd probably have mentioned that. Once or twice. Or, you know, all the time." Albus grinned.

“Probably.” Scorpius squeezed his hand. “But I mean it. I think a spell was put on the castle back when it was built or... maybe on the whole region... So that there’d always be snow for Christmas. I mean... it hasn’t missed a single year in ages, has it?”

"I don't think so..." Albus said. "We could ask your dad if it always snowed in his time, too. And if it did, maybe you actually discovered something that's missing in _Hogwarts: a History_!"

“A lot of stuff is missing, according to your aunt. I mean… the Minister.” Scorpius shrugged. “I’m really looking forward to seeing Dad. And Laura.”

"Me too," Albus agreed. "I can't wait to see what kind of surprise your dad has for you."

"I hope it's a book," Scorpius said, speeding up a little. "Come on, we're running late."

 

…

 

They ended up waiting in The Three Broomsticks for almost half an hour before Draco and Laura entered, beaming and with snow in their hair.

“Sorry, boys,” Draco said as they sat down across from them. “I was showing Laura the shops and...”

"It was awesome!" Laura exclaimed. "Though Zonko's was nothing compared to your uncle's place, Albus."

Albus grinned. "Told you."

“Did you go to Scrivenshaft’s?” Scorpius gave his father a meaningful look.

“Oh yes,” Draco said, quickly taking a long, slightly wrinkled brown paper package out of one of the colourful shopping bags. “They just got it in yesterday.”

“Dad!” Scorpius rolled his eyes and quickly grabbed it, trying to hide it under his cloak.

Albus leaned in closer. "What was that?"

“School stuff,” Scorpius said, almost knocking his butterbeer into Albus’ lap.

"Right..."

Scorpius was saved as Laura asked: "So how are you boys doing? Is it true that you're staying at school during the holidays to _study_?" She wrinkled her nose.

“Yeah,” Scorpius said, squirming a little. “I have a test in three weeks. I... I missed one of my OWLs this summer.”

"One of your owls? I thought you only had Zarina," she said.

“O.W.L,” Draco clarified, smiling. “Those exams I told you about. Scorpius was very well prepared, but he always gets a bit... nervous...”

"He managed to Vanish himself when he was practising for his Transfiguration exam," Albus said, rolling his eyes. "After my turn, the examiners came up to me and asked where he was. I couldn’t imagine Scorpius not showing up for an exam, so I got very worried. We went looking for him all over the castle, but he was nowhere to be found. Lily and I were freaking out and Professor McGonagall was getting ready to send an owl to Draco when Scorpius suddenly materialised right on top of two first years in his favourite sofa in the common room.”

Scorpius blushed and sank down in his chair as the others laughed. “It was an accident,” he muttered. Rose had been convinced he did it on purpose to get more time to prepare, but he really didn’t. In fact, he still wasn’t sure exactly how he’d done it.

“Anyway,” Draco said, smiling, “McGonagall let him attend the class based on his performance during the year and he’ll do the test now, along with two students who were too ill with Dragon Pox, and the Hufflepuff Keeper who was having her collarbone regrown.”

"The Hufflepuff what?" Laura asked, frowning.

"It's a position in Quidditch," Albus explained helpfully. "The wizarding sport everyone is so obsessed with. Even though the players get hurt all the time."

"Not all the time," Draco interjected. "I played Seeker for a couple of years and I never got injured."

Scorpius began relaxing again as he watched his boyfriend and father in a good-humoured argument about the dangers and benefits of Quidditch, with Laura looking on with obvious bemusement.

"I guess your father was better at getting hurt than I was," Draco teased. "But never mind that. I promised you a surprise, Scorpius. Well... both of you, actually." He reached into his pocket and got out a little rectangular black box. He put it on the table.

“What is it, dad?” Scorpius asked, reaching for the box. “Can I open it now or…?”

“Not here,” Draco said quickly. “But you don’t have to wait until Christmas morning either. Just… Do it somewhere private, okay?”

Albus frowned. “Is it…” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Is it something illegal?”

Draco shook his head. “No. Just… A bit unusual. Some might not find it appropriate. But considering what you two have handled in the past…” He shrugged.

Scorpius hesitated, then picked up the box and examined it warily. “Uhm… thanks…” he said.

Laura laughed. “Don’t look so scared. You and Albus will know what to do.”

“I hope it will make your Christmas more enjoyable. Give you something to take your minds off studying for a bit.”

To Scorpius’ relief, Albus looked as apprehensive as he felt. He took his hand and squeezed it under the table.


	2. Chapter 2

The tension was broken when Scorpius and Albus handed over their gifts for Draco and Laura, but as they walked back to the castle, Albus couldn’t stop wondering what was in the package.

“Your dad wouldn’t give you anything dangerous,” he mused out loud, “but then what would he give us that’s… frowned upon…?”

Scorpius squirmed visibly. “I don’t know,” he said. “But it wouldn’t be anything mean. Right?”

Albus nodded. “Do you think… You know. That it’s something embarrassing?”

“I hope not…” Scorpius whined. “But since he said to open it in private, at least nobody ever has to know.”

“Yes.” Albus started walking a little faster. “Come on, I’m really curious.” He more or less had to drag Scorpius along, as he didn’t seem quite as keen to reach the Slytherin common room.

 

When they finally got to their dorm and unpacked the present, they sat in silence for a while, just looking at the small tube in which a strange sort of white thread floated.

“A potion?” Scorpius shook the bottle and frowned. “Why would he give us a potion?”

“If that’s a potion, it’s a really odd one,” Albus said. “What do you think it does? Should we try it out?”

“No!” Scorpius yelped. “You never drink an unknown potion. We must… We should research it.”

 

Albus figured it was a perfect gift for Scorpius indeed, as it kept them in the library for hours. Madam Pince was starting to shoot them dirty looks as the library’s closing time approached, when Albus suddenly screamed.

“Do keep it down,” the Bloody Baron grumbled as he slid through their table. “Are you trying to rouse the whole castle?”

“Sorry, Baron,” Albus breathed. “You startled me.”

“Well, you shouldn’t be here at this hour. Don’t you children have classes in the morning?”

“Not during the Christmas holiday,” Albus replied. “It’s Wednesday, December the twenty-first, if you must know.”

“Christmas?” The Baron looked towards the window as if expecting to see Father Christmas zooming by. “Again? Didn’t we just have one?”

“It comes around every year,” Albus said, trying to keep his facial muscles under control.

Scorpius elbowed him and cleared his throat. “It _is_ getting late,” he said. “We should be heading back to our dorm.”

“Sure,” Albus said, moving his chair back to get up. Scorpius was never very comfortable around the Bloody Baron, so it would probably be best to leave.

The Baron waved them off but then suddenly zoomed closer. “But what is this you have here?” he said, bending down to examine the vial in Scorpius’ hand. “My… It’s been years since I’ve seen one. Dumbledore was ever so fond of them.”

“You know what it is?” Scorpius asked, the squeak in his voice more eager than scared.

“Of course.” The Baron nodded. “That is a memory. A powerful one, it seems.” He paused and then scowled at them. “How did you get your hands on that? Did you steal it?”

“No!” Albus called out indignantly, drawing Madam Pince’s attention again. “It was a gift!”

“A gift? From somebody who did not tell you what it is? Seems very unlikely.”

“He knows we like to figure things out. To learn!”

“Well!” Madam Pince homed in on them. “You can come back and learn tomorrow! Off with you nuisances. You too, Baron!” She wagged her finger at the ghost.

 

...

 

“So I guess this must be Dad’s memory...” Scorpius studied the tiny bottle of glowing liquid intently, sitting on Albus’ bed. “We’re going to need a Pensieve to view it.”

Albus nodded slowly. "My dad once told me he used one in the Headmistress' office. Well, Headmaster's, back then..."

Scorpius frowned. “Do you think it’s still there? I mean, she’s kept a lot of Dumbledore’s things, right?”

"Yeah..." Albus sighed, looking around the empty dormitory before he leaned closer to whisper in Scorpius' ear. "But I doubt she'll just let us borrow it..."

“True.” Scorpius sat in silence for a while. “I guess we’ll have to find another way.”

"We probably shouldn't..." Albus eyes shifted left and right— "break in..."

“We _definitely_ shouldn’t.” Scorpius grinned.

"Thought so." Albus giggled.

They stayed up way too late, coming up with increasingly complicated plans for luring McGonagall out of her office. Finally, as their eyes were falling shut, they settled on the one most likely to succeed, probably, and as Scorpius drifted off, his mind was a jumble of spells, potions and ball bearings.


	3. Chapter 3

By morning, their silly plans were mostly forgotten and they even got in an hour of studying before breakfast. But when they’d cleaned their plates of bacon and eggs, Clara Cavendish flopped down in the seat across the table, leaning towards them with an expression that could only mean “gossip!”.

“I heard something interesting in the corridors yesterday,” she said.

Albus frowned, doubting he’d have much interest in who was seen snogging whom.

“If you’re here to ask if we _really_ got engaged in Charms class, the answer’s no,” he told her. “You know well enough I don’t even take Charms anymore.”

Clara rolled her eyes. “Don’t be stupid. Not everything’s about you, _Potter_.”

“Ouch,” Albus said. “Fair enough.”

“No…” Clara tapped the side of her nose. “I heard that Professor McGonagall, the Heads of House and most other teachers are all going to be off to London on Christmas Eve. There’s a concert of some old band who’re reuniting, The Odd Siblings or something like that. So we’ll practically be free to do as we like.”

Albus shrugged. “Nice?”

Clara rolled her eyes again. “That means we can have a party! There’s a very small chance anyone would catch us being out of bed…”

Scorpius gasped. “Albus! That’s perfect!”

Clara blinked. "I hadn't expected _that_ much enthusiasm."

"No, not the party," Albus realised. "The fact she'll be gone..."

Clara crossed her arms and gave them a suspicious look. "What are you two up to?"

“None of your business.” Scorpius made a valiant attempt at looking smug but was turning redder by the second.

Clara huffed. "As long as you're not planning anything _particularly_ stupid... You're not coming to the party, then?"

"We'll see," Albus said. "If you'll excuse us, we've got some _planning_ to do."

“I bet there’s going to be rumours now,” Scorpius whispered, giggling nervously as she walked away. “But it’s perfect, right? The teachers are gone and the students will be at the party.”

"Well... most of the teachers," Albus said. "I doubt McGonagall would leave us completely unguarded."

“Binns won’t be going. Or Filch.” Scorpius considered for a moment. “They’ll be watching the halls, so we’ll have to be careful. But once we’re inside the office, we should be fine. Do you... Do you know the password?”

"No..." Albus said. "But maybe Roxanne does..."

“Why would…?” Scorpius grinned. “Oh, right… You could owl her. Unless you think she’d tell on us.”

"I’m sure she'll be delighted that we’re getting in trouble again," Albus said. "She's taken to calling me her Most Boring Cousin."

Scorpius got a crumpled quill and scrap of parchment out of his pocket. “Better do something about that.”

 

…

 

They could only hope that Sally would be able to return in time, so there was nothing to do but study—and, in Albus’ case, plunder the kitchen every few hours to provide him and Scorpius with snacks.

He leaned back in his comfortable chair after they’d spent a good while practising an overly complicated spell and stared at the mince pie in his hand. “I’ve been thinking about what I want to do after Hogwarts,” he announced.

“Yeah?” Scorpius asked around a mouthful of fudge.

“Yeah. What if I had a sweets shop?” Albus glanced at Scorpius.

Scorpius gaped at him. "That would be brilliant!" he cried.

Albus chuckled. “It would…”

They were startled by a third year running into the common room. “Come with me! We’re at war!”

“What?” They both stared at him.

"You're fighting?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah." The boy grinned. "With snow! We’re taking revenge for last year. You weren’t here, but this time we’ve got a good chance against Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. We’re teaming up with Hufflepuff, you see. But we’re still outnumbered, so we need you! Come on!”

Scorpius jumped to his feet. "You can count on us," he said. He offered Albus his hand. "Come! We're off to the front!"

 

…

 

Albus was hit on the shoulder by a large snowball as soon as he stepped foot out of the huge oak doors. It looked like it really _was_ a fierce battle. Practically every student who’d stayed at Hogwarts for the holidays was there.

As the third year, Joshua Jewitt, led Albus and Scorpius to the wall of snow from behind which the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs were hurling their projectiles, Albus saw that Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had gathered closer to Hagrid’s hut. However, several members of both teams were running around, attacking everything that moved with snow. As Scorpius had to duck away from a snowball even though no one could have had a clear shot at him, Albus realised some of the ammunition must have been bewitched to find targets with yellow or green scarves.

“They’re cheating,” he remarked as they’d joined the group in relative safety to work out a strategy.

“Well, to be fair, so are we,” a tall Hufflepuff girl with colourful leg warmers said. She pointed her wand at where three Gryffindor girls were scooping up snow and sent a Hot-Air Charm their way, melting their supplies.

“Hey!” one of the girls yelled. “ _Aguamenti_! _Glacius_!”

But rather than the snow she had undoubtedly hoped for, a large ice slide burst from her wand. All three girls immediately lost their footing and slid down the slope, ending up a dozen yards away from the Gryffinclaw base. They were instantly ambushed by a minor horde of Slytherpuff second years.

Albus grinned and hoped that the ice would still be there when the snowball fight had died down, so they could have a go as well.

His focus was drawn back to the present by Scorpius, who pulled him closer by the sleeve of his robes. “Your snowing spell!” he said. “It would be perfect! You could make snowballs rain down on them!”

Albus nodded and cast the spell, trying to make it stronger than ever, but the flakes that fell down on the Ravenclaws were only slightly thicker than usual.

“It was worth a try,” he said, giggling as he hugged Scorpius.

“Boys, focus! We’ve got to defend our honour!” Joshua chided them.

“Right.” Albus bent down and finally started throwing snowballs in earnest.

For a while it looked like they were slightly overpowering Gryffinclaw, helped by a clever spell from a fourth year that made the snow stick to their targets’ clothes, weighing them down. But they’d moved further and further away from their hiding place in order to have a clear shot, so when a Ravenclaw hurled an already large snowball at Joshua and yelled “ _Engorgio_!”, Albus screamed: “Nooooo!”, and threw himself in front of the boy.

He only realised how gigantic the ball had become when it hit him.

There was snow _everywhere_. His mouth, his eyes, his collar… A bit slid down his neck to his back and Albus could only lie there and shiver.

“Oops,” the Ravenclaw said, quickly running away.

“Whoa. Thanks, Albus.” Joshua said, before he was pushed aside by Scorpius.

"Albus!" he cried as he fell to his knees at Albus’ side. "Are you okay? Talk to me!"

"Yeah..." Albus tried to sit up, but his limbs weren't very cooperative. "Just cold..."

Scorpius tried brushing the snow out of his hair. “Of course you are, idiot-hero. Let’s get you inside.” He kissed Albus’ forehead and helped him up.

Moving was a lot easier when he was clinging to Scorpius. Somehow _he_ still felt nice and warm after all that time outside.

Once it was clear that Albus was okay, the battle resumed viciously behind them, but Albus was too cold to care about missing the rest of it.

“Maybe we should go by the hospital wing,” Scorpius said while helping Albus out of his snow-caked scarf and gloves in the Entrance Hall. “Get you some Pepper-up. Just in case.”

"Yeah..." Albus tried to make his teeth stop chattering. "That might be wise."

 

…

 

After a potion, a hot-air spell and a lot of fussing from Madam Pomfrey, Albus and Scorpius finally made it back to the common room. Albus was still leaning on Scorpius, but he didn't feel quite as unsteady anymore. It was just nice to be warm and close.

Scorpius guided him into a chair that was almost big enough for both of them. “Sometimes,” he said, grinning, “I wonder if you’re in the right House.”

Albus wrinkled his nose. "Don't be silly. I'm not brave. Only an idiot, and you find those in every House."

“You dove in front of Joshua like a Hollywood bodyguard.” Scorpius giggled. “A true hero.”

"Your grandfather probably wouldn't approve of you watching Muggle Hollywood productions," Albus said, pouting a little.

“Probably not, but Laura has an amazing dvd collection. You should come to our next movie night. If...” Scorpius hesitated. “If your parents won’t mind you coming home with me in the Easter break.”

Albus grinned. "Surely not. Thank you." He snuggled up against Scorpius and hummed happily. "You really are nice and warm."


	4. Chapter 4

Scorpius had almost drifted off when he was startled by footsteps and nearly kicked Albus out of the chair.

“Sorry!” Joshua whispered loudly, waking Albus too. “I just… Sally was in the Entrance Hall with a letter. I thought I’d better bring her down…” He stretched out his hands, where Sally was nuzzling at his thumb.

“Oh. Thank you…” Albus had a little difficulty untangling his arms from around Scorpius' neck without decapitating him, but finally he managed to take the owl from Joshua.

“I’ll leave you alone now!” Joshua said quickly. “Thanks again for saving me!” He rushed off to his dormitory.

Albus frowned as he saw the handwriting on the letter. "That's not from Roxy..."

“Oh no...” Scorpius frowned. “Is it your uncle? Did she tell on us?”

"No..." Albus opened the letter and his eyes widened. "It's Lucy!"

“Who?”

"My other cousin. Well, one of them." Albus rolled his eyes. "You know, the daughter of Aunt Audrey and Uncle Percy? From Ravenclaw, fourth year? Molly's sister?"

“I must admit I’ve given up keeping track of your extended family.” Scorpius moved closer to get a better look. “What does she say?”

"You know it's bad when Scorpius Malfoy, geek extraordinaire, gives up on learning your family tree by heart." Albus giggled and started reading:

" _Dear Albus,_

_For someone who's all about defying what his family expects of him, you really do make the same mistakes as everyone else, you know that? Sure, Roxy and Fred have gotten up to some mischief of their own, but I am the one who really deserves to share the title of Biggest Troublemaker with you. Yes, me, heir of Percy Weasley, Gryffindor Prefect and Head Boy... Maybe you should find out what awesome tricks I've been playing on people, but for now I'll just forgive you and send you on the right path by telling you something about "catnip treats"._

_Good luck,_

_Lucy._ "

"Catnip treats?" Scorpius scanned the letter again. "You don't have a cat..."

Albus gave him an amused look. "You do remember what we asked Roxanne, right? The password..."

Scorpius blushed. “Of course,” he said. “I just didn’t think she...” He gasped. “Lucy has been to the office? What do you think she did?”

"I have no idea, but now I really want to find out." Albus grinned. "If Uncle Percy ever hears about this, he's going to blow a fuse..."

“Let’s hope he never does.” Scorpius checked the clock above the fireplace. “4 hours until the teachers leave. We better get the memory out of our dormitory and find a place to wait.”

 

…

 

The empty classroom was cold and dark, but rather than risk lighting a fire, magical or not, they huddled together behind the teacher's desk, keeping each other warm and occupied with ever more ridiculous guesses about what the memory would reveal.

Finally the clock struck eight and Albus straightened up, making Scorpius shiver from the sudden lack of heat at his side.

"Is it time?" he asked, reaching into his pocket for his father's memory.

Albus nodded. “We’d better go. Who knows how long we’ll be in there.”

Scorpius tiptoed over to the door and listened. “I think the coast is clear.”

“Quickly, then.”

They slipped out of the room and hurried over to the gargoyle guarding the Headmistress’ office.

“Catnip Treats!” Albus whispered urgently, and the gargoyle leapt aside, revealing a slowly ascending spiral staircase.

“I love this bit.” Scorpius giggled as he took Albus’ hand and leapt onto the bottom step.

"I hope we won't be too dizzy to find the Pensieve by the time we get there," Albus replied, squeezing his hand.

“Don’t say that!” Scorpius rolled his eyes. “Now I’ll definitely get dizzy.” He covered his mouth, pretending he was going to be sick.

"You'd think life as a Headmistress is too busy to get to your office this slowly, though," Albus said a few moments later.

“Or she could be walking rather than just stand here. Like a fool.”

"Oh yeah..." Looking sheepish, Albus started climbing the stairs.

They hesitated at the top. Scorpius stared at the closed door. “Should we knock?” he whispered. “Just in case?”

"She must be out," Albus said. "Clara told us, right?"

“She could have changed her mind. Or left somebody in charge?” Scorpius hesitated, then knocked twice.

"Who's there?" a man's deep voice answered.

Albus froze. "Oh no..."

“Should we run?” Scorpius hissed, taking a step back and almost tumbling down the stairs.

Albus caught his arm and pulled him to safety. "Too late," he whispered. "They'll just come after us. But if we go in, maybe we can talk our way out of detention."

Before Scorpius had the chance to say anything, he opened the door. "Good evening! We..." Albus stopped and looked around. There was no one inside the office.

Scorpius stayed behind Albus, looking over his shoulder. "Hello?" he called softly. "Who's there?"

"We are." The portrait of a heavily built man with a beard rolled its eyes. "What are you doing here? Did Minerva send you?"

"Oh!" Scorpius squeaked. "Uhm... Yes... She said we could borrow the... the..."

"The Pensieve!" Albus said. "For homework. We need to write an essay about Pensieves, and we figured the best way to get acquainted with them was to actually use one."

"Aha." The portrait nodded. "I've always been an advocate of practical learning."

"Merlin's mittens!" a tired-looking witch interjected from the frame above. "You were the greatest proponent for theoretical learning this school has ever seen."

“Oh look!” Scorpius flinched at how loud it came out. “The Pensieve is over there.” He gave Albus a pointed look. “We better get to work. It’s... it’s getting late. And we... we want to... you know... bed...”

One of the younger-looking portraits raised an eyebrow. "Spare us the details, boys."

Scorpius wanted to run, but instead he dragged Albus over to the open cabinet, keeping his back to the sniggering portraits. He took out the small bottle. “Do we just... pour it in?”

"You do," a voice to their side said.

"Prancing Porlocks!" Scorpius cried as he identified the speaker. "It's Phyllida Spore!" He grasped Albus' arm and almost dropped the memory.

"Huh? Who?" Albus asked.

Scorpius tried rolling his eyes but he was trembling too much. "Spore!" he said. "She wrote the book!"

"Ah, right," Albus said. "That _one_ book you like." He gave him a pointed look.

"Our textbook! The one we all had to get for the first year! For... For Herbology!" Scorpius tried to stop squirming, but it was just too mortifying. How could his boyfriend be so dense?

" _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ ," Phyllida supplied. "It's been an obligatory textbook since the 15th century, when I was Headmistress of Hogwarts."

"Wow," Albus said. "Does that mean no new herbs and fungi have been discovered all that time?"

"No!" Scorpius hissed, trying to kick Albus' shin without her noticing. "But we didn't learn about those before third year anyway." He made a small bow to the portrait. "It's still the most comprehensive book on the subject, Miss."

"Dame, actually," Phyllida corrected good-naturedly. "Now, don't let me keep you. There's lots to learn about Pensieves!"

Albus swallowed nervously as he opened the vial and then looked at Scorpius. "Ready?"

Scorpius took a deep breath and nodded. "Ready."


	5. Chapter 5

Falling down the Pensieve was not exactly pleasant.

As soon as they'd poured in the memory, the silver swirl had given way to a mess of colours, as if someone had lit Christmas lights in every imaginable hue beneath the strange substance in the basin. On the count of three, they'd both touched the surface with a single fingertip. They'd left the office behind and were still falling, sucked into the cold, more colourful lights spiralling around them and loud music playing while someone made a scrambled announcement in what looked like pieces of the Great Hall.

And then, suddenly, it all stopped and they were standing in the corridor, still squeezing each other's hand.

"Whoa," Albus said. "All that, and we're still at Hogwarts."

“It... it didn’t work?” Scorpius whispered, looking around furtively.

"I guess your dad wants to show us a memory from Hogwarts," Albus said.

“Oh...” Scorpius frowned. “It must be from when he was still at school. Which means your dad is here too.”

Albus almost jumped into Scorpius’ arms when the suit of armour they were passing started singing loudly: "Oh COME, ALL YE FAITHFUL! Something? And TRIUMPHANT! Oh come ye, oh COME YE to HUUUUF-FLE-PUUUUFF! Wait, that's not right..."

"Ugh," a familiar voice sounded around the corner. "I thought they wanted to _impress_ for the Tournament. Couldn't they at least have taught them the full lyrics?"

Albus frowned and looked at Scorpius. How could he be hearing his voice at a distance when he was standing right next to him?

A moment later, the answer became clear.

“Dad?” Scorpius whispered, gaping. “What is he wearing?”

“Dress robes, I guess,” Albus answered, more interested in comparing the young Draco’s face with his boyfriend’s than in the high-collared black velvet robes. “This must be right before the Yule Ball of the Triwizard Tournament. Good thing a Pensieve doesn’t work like a Timeturner. Imagine him finding out that his future son is with a Potter…”

The girl clinging to Draco’s arm, who was wearing a pale pink frilly dress, giggled when he glared at the suit of armour, making it jump back. Somehow, the laughter of the two bodyguard-like boys following them sounded unironically like _hur-hur-hur_.

“Let’s move a little closer,” Albus said, tugging on Scorpius’ hand.

"I'm so glad you asked me, Draco," Pansy said in a sickly sweet voice as she claimed more of Draco's arm.

“Don’t!” Draco snapped, making both his date and his son flinch. “I only agreed to go with you because you were the first to ask me.”

"But Draco..." Pansy squeaked. "Surely there's no one else...?"

Albus raised an eyebrow. "Wow... Pure romance between those two."

“Dad has mentioned her a few times,” Scorpius said. “They were sort of friends. I think.”

“Maybe that’s what he wanted us to see,” Albus said. “So we feel grateful for having a better friend than that.” He smiled at Scorpius, but then, as they walked into the Entrance Hall, his attention was drawn to the decorations. The banisters of the marble staircase carried icicles that caught the light in a rainbow of colours, and beyond the open door—which fortunately still held out the cold, or perhaps they just couldn’t feel it inside the memory—there was a sort of grotto with rose bushes and statues of Father Christmas and his reindeer. Fairies were fluttering about the grotto, their colourful lights making everything feel all the more festive.

“Wow,” Albus breathed. He stopped to admire it all, and for a moment they almost lost sight of Draco and his friends in the mass of students that were waiting to enter the Great Hall.

"I... I've never seen anything so beautiful!" Scorpius' eyes sparkled.

"Why did they need all those possibly deadly challenges of the Tournament when they could just have... _this_?" Albus wondered out loud.

Nearby, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and then called: “Champions over here, please!”

Albus smiled when he saw she was wearing a wreath of thistles on her hat to go with her red tartan dress robes. Earnest as she was, she was certainly feeling the Christmas spirit.

He caught only a glimpse of familiar messy black hair before the crowd started moving into the Great Hall.

"I guess we better follow your dad," he said to Scorpius.

 

The Great Hall was at least as impressive as the view from the Entrance Hall had been. It was filled with lantern-lit tables and the dozens of small flames made the silver frost on the walls sparkle. The starry ceiling was decorated with mistletoe and ivy, and the twelve Christmas trees were bedecked with luminous holly berries and real golden owls.

Scorpius gasped and tugged on Albus’ sleeve. “Look,” he whispered. “It’s him. The other Albus...”

“Dumbledore?” Albus turned and spotted the bearded face he knew from the many book covers at home at a large round table. He was accompanied by four other people; one of them was Madame Maxime, Hagrid’s sometimes-girlfriend whom Albus had met twice, and, to his surprise, Uncle Percy was among them too. He was wearing a self-important expression that somehow made him look older than he did in Albus’ time.

“Severus is here, too,” he whispered to Scorpius, pointing at a table not far from Dumbledore’s where several of the Hogwarts teachers were seated. Hero or not, he looked every bit as greasy and gloomy as Uncle Ron had always described him.

And just as he thought of Uncle Ron, a shock of bright turquoise caught Albus’ eye. He elbowed Scorpius. “That’s Padma Patil. Good to see we didn’t upset time by coming here.”

For a moment he regretted bringing up the Timeturner, as Scorpius started shaking. But then he looked up at Scorpius’ face and saw the corners of his eyes crinkle with laughter.

“Albus... Why... Why is your uncle wearing a dress?”

It wouldn’t have been the first time Albus saw Uncle Ron wear an _actual_ dress, but this was something else. The dress robes were an ugly shade of brown and the sleeves and collar were horribly frayed.

“How did Mum not give him hell for wearing that?” he wondered out loud.

“I think she will later,” Scorpius said, pointing to a very young Ginny who was squirming with the effort of suppressing her laughter every time she glanced in Ron’s direction.

Albus grinned. “She’s so young. But she looks so much like herself. And like Uncle George!”

At that moment, Professor McGonagall entered the Hall, immediately followed by the champions and their partners.

“Whoa,” Albus said, distracted from marvelling at how small and scared Professor Longbottom was looking. “Aunt Hermione looks amazing. And Aunt Fleur!”

“Yeah,” Scorpius said dreamily. “It’s almost enough to make me wish they’d do another tournament. Almost…”

Albus frowned. “Because you could look at the pretty girls?”

“No, because I would be the prettiest… person…” Scorpius turned away abruptly.

Laughing, Albus took hold of his shoulder to turn him back and kissed him. “You already _are_ the prettiest person.”

Scorpius squeaked. “Thank you, but I mean…” He looked down at himself. “I’d like to wear nice robes and get all fancied up too.”

“I’m sure we can find an occasion for that,” Albus said thoughtfully. “Maybe when we’re graduating next year. Or this Easter. I’m sure Laura won’t mind if we’re looking nice for her movie night.”

“Then we need to go shopping first,” Scorpius said eagerly.

“Everyone here sure could have used some styling advice from you,” Albus remarked. “It’s like none of the boys have gotten a haircut in at least... a year?”

Scorpius glanced around. “Yeah,” he said, pointing at Uncle George and Uncle Fred. “I can’t believe your grandmother let them leave for school like that.”

“I think she was too busy complaining about Uncle Bill’s hair in those days,” Albus said, remembering some very dramatic hair stories from both his grandmother and his uncle.

“But wasn’t he like off in Turkey or something at the time?” Scorpius giggled at the sight of a boy with the tips of his spiky hair bleached blond and covered in so much gel that they didn’t move at all, even when his date poked them with her wand. “Is that a fashion statement or did he have an accident in Transfiguration?”

“The latter, I think,” Albus answered. “He aimed his wand at himself instead of his pin cushion. But in his defence, he’s a cute porcupine.”

“I bet I would be cuter.”

“You’re always cuter. I thought we’d established that.”

While they were talking, everyone had started telling their plates what they wanted to eat. Albus’ stomach growled as he saw one delicious thing after another appear, but he knew it was impossible to get any food for themselves inside the Pensieve. Fortunately, he was soon distracted from his hunger as Scorpius kept pointing out funny clothes and hairstyles, and they were giggling for about as long as dinner lasted. Now and then they checked in on the people they knew, most of whom seemed happy and relaxed, except for a rather sulky Uncle Ron. Even Draco seemed a lot more comfortable talking to Pansy than when they had seen them in the corridor.

 

It felt like no time at all had passed when Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same—though the sore muscles in Albus’ cheeks proved that they’d been laughing for quite a while. All the tables moved towards the walls and Dumbledore conjured up a platform with several musical instruments.

Everyone, including Draco, applauded enthusiastically as the band walked onto the stage.

Scorpius watched Harry and Parvati thoughtfully as they took position on the dancefloor, then snorted as they began to move. "Merlin's tapshoes..." he giggled. "Now I know where you got it from..."

Albus crossed his arms. "Got _what_ from?"

"Your grace," Scorpius said, beaming at him. "Sense of rhythm. Two left feet..."

“I’m the best dancer in the family!” Albus protested. “Just because you Malfoys are more elegant than your average Veela…”

“Awh...” Scorpius kissed his cheek. “You think I’m elegant?”

"But _you_ think I have two left feet," Albus said pointedly, "so I guess you don't want to dance with me."

“I always want to dance with you. Even if you step on my toes.”

“Oh, that was _horribly_ sweet. I like it.” Albus grinned and pulled him close.


	6. Chapter 6

It felt odd to dance between young versions of adults they knew, as well as people who’d been long gone. Ginny and Professor Longbottom actually stood out as the best dancers on the floor, which was odd considering that Albus had never seen his mum dance. Perhaps he wasn’t the best dancer in the family after all.

Dumbledore was waltzing with Madame Maxime, and even the scary-looking professor with the magical eye had found a partner, though Draco was very actively keeping his distance from them.

When the music changed to some faster songs, it took Albus way too long to realise that the boy dancing wildly with Aunt Angelina was Uncle Fred, not George. But as Scorpius twirled him around, he soon forgot all about the other dancers.

 

…

 

As they foxtrotted by Draco and Pansy both sipping glasses of pumpkin juice, Scorpius noticed Albus shooting them rather envious looks, licking his lips.

“It’s a shame we can’t have a drink,” Scorpius said, bringing them to a halt. “But we can take a break if you want.”

Albus nodded gratefully and they headed towards one of the tables. Only when they had sat down did Scorpius realise that they were sitting quite close to Albus’ dad and uncle, who were both looking surly.

Scorpius turned to watch the dancers, but almost immediately Albus tugged on his sleeve.

“The argument,” he whispered, and Scorpius saw that Hermione Granger had joined her friends. "The one they need to have for the sake of my cousins' future..."

“He’s from Durmstrang!” Ron exclaimed. “He’s competing against Harry! Against Hogwarts! You— you’re—” he paused, “ _fraternising with the enemy_ , that’s what you’re doing!”

Hermione’s mouth fell open.

“Don’t be so stupid!” she said after a moment. “The enemy! Honestly—who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one who wanted his autograph? Who’s got a model of him up in their dormitory?”

Ron glared at her but when he opened his mouth to speak, no sound came out. Or rather, it was so muted that it was drowned in the general noise of the party. Scorpius looked around and saw his dad leaving with his two friends in tow.

Albus was still staring at the now silent argument going on in front of him, so Scorpius tugged on his sleeve. “Come on,” he said. “We better follow Dad or we might fall out of the memory.”

They made it out into the Entrance Hall just in time to see the back of Crabbe disappearing down the stairs to the dungeon. Scorpius was about to dart after him when Albus took hold of his arm and spun him towards the front door. Draco was heading outside into the grotto, batting irritably at a fairy as it flittered past.

“What’s he doing?” Scorpius whispered. “Where is his date?”

“Maybe he’s meeting somebody else out there?” Albus said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Scorpius punched his shoulder lightly. “Don’t be an idiot,” he hissed. “He… oh…”

A girl had stormed past them so fast that it took Scorpius a moment to realise that it was Hermione. He gasped. There was no way she and his dad were seeing each other secretly. Ever!

And, judging from the fleeting look of surprise on Draco’s face as he got out of her way, they weren’t. They just happened to have chosen the same place to go. As had many others, judging from the hushed voices coming from between and, in a few cases, inside the rose bushes.

Hermione stormed down one of the paths, her head bowed and her hands clenched into fists. After a moment’s hesitation, Draco followed her, Albus and Scorpius right behind him.

They found her sitting on a marble bench. She had kicked her shoes across the path and most of her hair had escaped the bun, hanging in tangled strands around her head. She was slumped forward, her hands over her eyes, obviously crying.

Draco stopped and watched her silently.

“No, Dad,” Scorpius whispered, though he knew he couldn’t hear him. “Leave her alone… This is not the time...”

“Maybe we shouldn’t watch this,” Albus said, taking Scorpius’ hand and trying to pull him back, but he stopped as Draco opened his mouth.

“It’s almost a shame.” Draco took a step forward.

Hermione squeaked and looked up at him, her eyes red and her cheeks streaked with tears and makeup. “What… What are you doing here?” she snapped, the effect somewhat ruined as it was followed by a loud, angry sniff.

“I needed some air,” Draco said, casually ignoring the state she was in as he strolled past her to study one of the bushes critically. “But instead, I found this… nonsense.”

“It’s a very clever spell,” Hermione countered. “Putting all this up must have taken most of the professors working together.”

“Yeah, they do like showing off, don’t they?” Draco pretended not to see Hermione’s thin smile as he focused on a particularly pretty rose, studying it for a moment before starting to pick its petals off, letting them helicopter to the ground. “Like back in 1742 when all the heads of the European schools of magic were visiting for the Magia Magnum Summit.”

“What do you mean?” Scorpius recognised the vacant look in Hermione’s eyes as the mental scanning of an entire book. Probably _Hogwarts: a History_.

“Oh, right…” Draco laughed haughtily as he turned to face her. “I forgot… It’s not something you can _read_ about. You actually have to hear the story from someone who’s had it handed down to them from… I don’t know… a long family line of respectable wizards?”

Hermione scowled at him.

“Haven’t you ever wondered why there’s always snow for Christmas here at Hogwarts? I mean, we _are_ in the Highlands, but still… Nowhere else has weather that perfect.”

“Hogwarts does not have _perfect_ weather. We have rain. Storms.”

“But never for Christmas. Do you know how far you’d have to go back to find a non-white Christmas at Hogwarts?”

Hermione did some quick calculating. “Just about 252 years?”

“Exactly!” Draco crowed. “Because that was the year Tempesta Malfoy invented and cast the charm, and Dilys Derwent made it permanent with a Constantiam Charm.”

Hermione shook her head. “You’re just making this up.”

“Think what you will,” Draco said. “But the fact is that the Nixinius charm is still in the Malfoys’ possession. Father showed it to me after I got my letter.”

“And Dad showed it to you.” Scorpius gave Albus’ hand a squeeze. “That’s like… a big deal, isn’t it? If it’s only known to the family?”

“Do you really think it’s that one?” Albus whispered reverently. “I mean… That would mean it can be strong enough to cover the entire castle and its surroundings in snow. When it’s performed by a more powerful wizard than me…”

“One with more experience anyway,” Scorpius said, then instinctively took a step back as the teenage version of his father turned away from the future minister and walked past them back towards the castle.

"Then again," Albus commented, "if he told even my aunt about it, maybe it's not that much of a family secret. They weren't exactly friends."

“Why did he do that?” Scorpius turned back to Hermione, who was no longer crying but instead looked thoughtfully at the scattered petals Draco had left behind. “Did he just want to show her he knew something she didn’t?”

"I guess," Albus said. "Although... She doesn't look upset about it. She's not crying anymore..."

"No, she isn't. Do you think that's why he did it? To take her mind off..." He grabbed Albus' shoulder, trying to steady himself as the world lurched and then seemed to spin around them. A second later they stumbled onto the floor of McGonagall's office. "Wha... What happened?"

"We should probably have followed your dad." Albus winced and rubbed his shoulder. "Do you think we can go back?"

Scorpius got to his feet and went over to look into the Pensieve. The colourful lights were back. He shook his head. "I think it would take us back to the beginning of the night," he said. "And besides, what's the point? It's not like we could ask him why he did it. Not that version of him, anyway." Scorpius got his wand out of his pocket and touched the tip carefully to the liquid to extract the shining strand.

"The point would be that we had fun there." Albus smiled as he helped Scorpius seal the memory back inside the tiny bottle. "That's why he gave it to us."

"Yeah, but how long were we in there?" Scorpius asked, looking around for a clock. "Won't the teachers be returning soon? We should get out of here."

"Right." Albus was still smiling. "Then I guess we'll just have fun in our own time."

“Should we give that party a chance?”

Albus hesitated. “Do you think we’re really welcome?”


	7. Chapter 7

“Finally!” Clara exclaimed as Albus and Scorpius turned into a corridor on the second floor. They’d given up walking on tiptoe when they heard the talking and laughter coming from the classroom Clara was apparently guarding.

But since they hadn’t seen anyone on their way down, Albus doubted the teachers had returned yet. And that was for the best as behind Clara, Joshua and some of his mates were trying to teach a Christmas tree to sing, by giving it a very off-key example.

“Come on,” Clara said, grabbing Albus and Scorpius’ arms and pulling them into the room. “Have fun. That’s an order from a fellow Slytherin.”

“Great…” Scorpius rolled his eyes. “More fun…”

Clara frowned. “What, are you opposed to fun now, Future Head Boy?”

Albus rolled his eyes. “Of course not. But we’ve been having fun all evening.”

“Okay…” Clara very demonstratively put her fingers in both her ears and loudly joined the boys’ Christmas carol.

“Not the kind you don’t want to know about!” Albus hissed, but she obviously couldn’t hear him.

The decorations in the room were very different from what they’d just seen in the Pensieve. Aside from the Christmas tree, which was looking rather worn and now made sad whale noises instead of singing along, there was a row of broken candy canes hanging from the top of the blackboard, and the walls looked as if the partying students had been throwing every kind of garland they could find at it, followed by a Sticking Spell. But there were several plates of snacks on the teacher’s desk as well as a large pitcher of pumpkin juice, so Albus decided he might like this party better, after all. Especially when a sixth-year Ravenclaw got tired of the horrible singing and put on some real music.

“Ready to dance again?” he asked Scorpius, smiling.

Scorpius looked down at his feet and wriggled them a bit. “Yeah. I think my toes have recovered enough.”

Albus swatted his shoulder, laughing, before putting his hands on his waist.

“Awh!” the tall Hufflepuff with the rainbow leg warmers said.

Joshua plucked a sprig of mistletoe from between the branches of the tree and held it above Albus and Scorpius’ heads.

“There you go. A well-earned reward for saving my life.” Joshua winked at Albus, who snorted and looked at Scorpius.

“Well, I can’t refuse that, can I?”

Scorpius immediately turned scarlet. “I… I guess not?”

“I mean, we don’t _have_ to…”

Scorpius looked up and then gave Albus a small smile. “I think we do.”

Chuckling, Albus leaned in to catch his lips.

Clara screamed.

“Merlin’s beard, it’s only a kiss!” Joshua cried, and then he froze. Professor McGonagall was entering, followed by Professor Trelawney and Professor Sprout.

“What is going on here?” the Headmistress demanded, glaring around the room while the other teachers quickly blocked the door to stop the panicked students from scampering. “Who’s responsible for this?”

The room went very quiet. Joshua quickly lowered the mistletoe.

 

…

 

No one had snitched on Clara, as all the students agreed she should be praised for the party rather than punished, and so they all ended up getting bland porridge for their Christmas breakfast rather than the promised feast. A small group of first years who hadn’t made it to the party were sitting at a separate table with all the sausages, jams and marzipans they could want, looking uncomfortable.

“It was worth it,” Albus said as they left the Great Hall and climbed up the stairs to the second floor to go help clean up the party room. “Besides, we can just visit the Kitchens later to get something better to eat. I’m sure the house-elves will _love_ a Christmas visit.”

“Imagine if she’d found out about the… other thing,” Scorpius whispered, leaning closer.

“I’d rather not, if it’s all the same to you,” Albus replied earnestly. “Hold on…”

A group of students stood huddled on the landing between the first and second floor, listening to a small radio.

“That’s… We danced to that!” Albus exclaimed.

The girl who was holding the radio turned to him and frowned. “That song’s super old. It’s only on the WWN now because of the Weird Sisters concert last night. The one the teachers went to.”

Albus gasped. “They went to see _them_?”

“Well, yeah,” a seventh-year Ravenclaw replied. “They were really popular in their day.”

"Of course," Scorpius said. "They're awesome."

“Wilder than what I expected our teachers to like, though,” the girl said. “Can you imagine McGonagall headbanging?”

Everyone laughed, and Albus and Scorpius shared a smile.

 

...

 

As they all helped, it didn’t take long to tidy up the classroom. The moaning tree, however, wasn’t so easily silenced.

Their presents had all been confiscated until the chore was done, so when they returned to the dormitory, there was a large pile waiting for them.

“Here,” Scorpius said, reaching for a long, thin package and handing it to Albus. “Open yours. I already got one present.”

“The secret thing from Scrivenshaft’s!” Albus grinned and ripped the paper. “Wow…”

It was gorgeous. The intricate gold pen ended in an elegant nib, and at the top it was attached to a shining black quill with golden streaks. “It’s like the Yule ball version of a quill,” Albus breathed.

Scorpius giggled. “So it suits you,” he said, leaning over to kiss Albus’ cheek.

Albus looked down at his robes. “Not yet…” He waved his wand and a few snowflakes fell on the dark fabric. “Blast. I thought I could make them glitter.”

“You're pretty enough," Scorpius said, giggling. "You don’t have to sparkle.”

Albus carefully put the beautiful quill on his nightstand and then picked up the very small present that had been waiting there. “This is for you,” he said, handing it to Scorpius.

Scorpius studied the small package, weighing it in his hand before carefully unwrapping it.

"Okay, I know it doesn't look like much," Albus said as Scorpius opened the tiny box and stared at the pale, lifeless worm that lay inside. "But I'm pretty sure you will like it."

“A worm?” Scorpius looked puzzled.

"Yes." Albus grinned widely. "A bookworm!"

"A bookworm?" Scorpius frowned at him.

"Yes!" Albus picked it up to show him. "You can cut it at a length that's comfortable to fit behind your ear, and the other end goes into a book, so it can read the book to you while you're doing something else. Like reading _another_ book!"

“What?” Scorpius’ expression turned from confused to fascinated to elated. “Really? That’s amazing!”  He almost knocked the worm out of Albus’ hand, bolting forward to hug him.

Albus hugged him back and kissed his cheek. "Merry Christmas!"

After they’d opened all their gifts and had both put on their Weasley jumpers and matching bow ties, they went out to the Owlery to bring Sally and Zarina their Christmas treats. As the owls ate, Albus and Scorpius snuggled up on the windowsill and looked out at the falling snow.

Scorpius leaned his head on Albus’ shoulder. “Thank you, great-great-great-great-something-grandmother Tempesta.”

Albus smiled and, slipping his wand back into his pocket, decided not to tell him that it was only snowing just outside their window.


End file.
